Candidate FAQs
I’ve been contacted by a couple of Executive Search firms and I think I would enjoy this type of work, is it a good field?
Will my search be kept confidential?
What is it going to cost me to work with an Executive Recruiter?
Are you an employment agency?
Why do I have to come into your office to meet you?
Why do you require that I come back to your office after an employer interview?
What is the name of the Company you are representing?
Are employers willing to interview me after normal work hours?
Why do I have to fill out an application? I have a resume.
How do I start the process of being a job candidate?
Candidate Answers
I’ve been contacted by a couple of Executive Search firms and I think I would enjoy this type of work, is it a good field?
As a job market matchmaker, you will dwell in a working environment that offers you nearly every experience in business. You will be stimulated with the intellectual experience of interacting with highly successful corporate executives and marketable job candidates, or be bogged down with routine paperwork. You will feel stress when dealing with over-demanding employers or unrealistic job seekers, and you will feel great satisfaction when you effect a placement; close a deal, make a marriage. You will find it profitable to cooperate with your office colleagues as a team, or discover that it’s best for you to work alone in developing openings and recruiting candidates to fill them. You will have a chance to earn substantial commissions (and in general this is a commission field where earnings of $60 - $100,000+ are common), or you will be staring at poverty when the placements you anticipated go up in smoke. You will be the object of criticism from disgruntled clients and hugs from happy ones. You will rejoice in the freedom to plan your own day, but suffer when it’s necessary to squeeze 12 hours into 8. (It’s possible to work 40 hours, but the big earners tend to spend many more hours a week on the job). You will be dealing in human drama because your efforts help shape the outcome of nearly 40% of your candidate’s waking hours and are the basis for most of their material rewards.
Ingredients of success, according to Don Dickason, President and co-owner of dmDickason Personnel Services, include having an assertive outgoing sales personality, tenacity, a great deal of self-confidence, the ability to effectively communicate with business owner’s and executives, and, most importantly, not fearing a telephone. “This is a call, call, call business,” Dickason explains.
At the top of the occupation are those who achieve the title of Certified Personnel Consultant (CPC). To qualify for this certification, you must have two or more years of personnel experience and pass a difficult test on employment & labor laws. You will meet a lot of interesting people in the executive search business. And, it is very possible to carve out a lucrative niche for yourself if you are good at helping others to achieve the success they desire. For more information on becoming a Recruiter for dmDickason, please click on this link: Recruiter Job Description
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Will my search be kept confidential?
Absolutely! The names of our job candidates, as well as the names of our client employers, are kept in the strictest confidence, and certainly not disclosed to anyone, until such time as both of you agree to the interview. At that time, and only at that time, will your name be disclosed to our client employer and, the company’s name disclosed to you. At dmDickason, all Recruiters are trained and expected to adhere to the strictest ethical code with respect to your confidentiality. Special consideration is always taken for those candidate’s that are currently employed, however, it always a good practice to stress the confidential nature of your job search to your Recruiter.
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What is it going to cost me to work with an Executive Recruiter?
Nothing. Our fees are paid entirely by the Employer. Click here to apply on line
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Are you an employment agency?
No. It is important that you, our Candidate, understand that dmDickason Executive Search does not function as a traditional employment agency, whereas, their services are performed specifically for the job seeker. Traditional employment agencies typically “help people find jobs”, marketing your specific skills to employers, and where the major job of an “Employment Counselor” is to “find you a job”. The typical candidate for an employment agency is someone that wants to change careers, be trained, or who has limited work backgrounds and/or educations. And, the placement fee is almost always paid by the job seeker, not the company.
A Search firm (such as dmDickason Executive Search), however, works strictly on an “employer fee paid basis”, representing employer assignment needs and requirements exclusively. Our function is to only recruit, interview and represent hand-picked, hard-to-find candidates, specifically on employer assignments that almost always require very specific, sometimes hard-to-find requirements and job skills. The majority of our candidates are currently employed, for the most part, satisfied in their current position, and are typically not actively looking for a new or better job.
Local employers (typically) do not have a great deal of problem in locating (on their own) qualified candidates with general or traditional backgrounds and experience, and unfortunately, will not pay Recruiters to locate people that are “looking for a new or better job”.
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Why do I have to come into your office to meet you?
Candidly, if you are asking this question, you probably aren’t too interested in making a job change. Once a dmDickason candidate expresses interest in a specific position, most are willing to do whatever it takes to land that job. And, with over 40 years of placement experience in our Region, most candidates recognize that our Recruiters know what they are doing. (Besides, you are probably only about 15 minutes away from our nearest office).
But, to answer your question….. Recruiters can share inside information on the working environment at an organization you may be considering, including the type of candidate it may be seeking. We can also offer valuable tips on how to improve your resume, sharpen your interview skills, prepare answers to difficult questions, position yourself for a job offer or even dress for an interview. Although all of this advice and knowledge does not cost you a dime, a dmDickason Recruiter will expect your complete cooperation in return. You will be expected to come into our offices before and after all local interviews (for an interview preparation and follow-up session) and, unfortunately, the whole interview process may take the entire morning or afternoon. If you are not willing to take the time necessary to cooperate fully with your Recruiter, and take full advantage of their expertise, you probably won’t ultimately benefit from your Recruiter’s services.
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Why do you require that I come back to your office after an employer interview?
Frankly; so that we can wrap up the details of your new job offer!
Your Recruiter fully understands what is important to both you and the employer, he/she appropriately matched your requirements, and, hopefully, both of you were properly prepared to present your credentials in a face-to-face interview…so, why weren’t you offered the job? After all, the employer is looking for someone just like you, and this opportunity is right up your alley….So, what’s the problem?
This is what we want to know! And, a face-to-face debriefing after the interview is the most effective way of uncovering “things” that are standing in the way of an offer, and/or your acceptance of an offer. dmDickason Recruiters highly prefer to meet personally with you after every interview, to either wrap up the details of your new offer or, to uncover what went wrong. Our proven operating system provides us with hard-hitting follow-up questions that will help us get to the root of the issues.
Additionally, at this time, we will also debrief the company over the telephone to determine their next step in the process, with respect to you. Your prior feed back will certainly assist us in overcoming any, otherwise, potential surprises; especially if we have a chance to talk to you (and prepare for any rebuttals) before calling the employer.
Finally, we will offer tailored tips, specific to this employer and job opportunity, that will guide you in getting that job offer. If you are not interested in this job, it gives us one more opportunity to better explore what is important to you and why this match was not a good one. And, since you are only 15 minutes away from our office, we highly encourage you to dedicate the time and effort we need to help you achieve the success you desire.
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What is the name of the Company you are representing?
Confidentiality and good work ethics prohibit us from disclosing the names of our client until such time as the company agrees to see you. Likewise, your name will be held in the strictest of confidence until you agree to see the employer. Once each one of you have mutually agreed to see the other, we will disclose the name of the company at that time. I assure, you will have ample time to properly research the company in preparation for a successful interview. Once we give you the name of the employer, we highly recommend that you keep it confidential. Many Recruiters will tell you stories of a candidate’s “best” friend ultimately landing that same job! (We wonder how they found out about this confidential opening….)
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Are employers willing to interview me after normal work hours?
Sure, but we believe that the answer to this boils down to one question; “How bad does the employer need you?”, and, “How bad do you need this job?” If you are a hard-to-find, highly sought-after candidate (such as health care professionals), the employer should be willing to meet you anytime, anywhere. However, if you are seeking a traditional staff level position where there may be several qualified candidates, you would be wise to meet the employer during his/her time schedule. If you are presently employed and can only interview with employers after normal work hours, or on a weekend, please tell your Recruiter so that we can attempt to accommodate you. Some employers are more than happy to work with you, while others are not.
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Why do I have to fill out an application? I have a resume.
Congratulations on having a resume, we’ll definitely will need one; however, has it been professionally and properly prepared? Was it written specifically for the position you are applying for? Does it have too little information, or maybe too much? Please click on “Resume writing Tips – What it takes to generate job interviews”.
The objective of a personal resume is to help you get a job interview; not to get a job! This is also the function of your Recruiter; and we want to know very specific questions about you that are probably not covered in your resume. Essentially, we are your breathing, walking, talking resume, and therefore, would like to get a complete picture of the details and “sizzle” that make you a marketable candidate. When you work with dmDickason, you are asked to complete an information sheet. Unless you are specifically applying for a staff job with dmDickason, this is not an application for employment. Instead, our worksheet contains specific employer-related questions that are normally not answered on a resume. Our worksheet requests not only information about your education, work experience and skills, it also requests (legal) information about you! (Your desires, what you like best in a job, what is important to you in a job, what part of town do you want to work in, what makes you different from other candidates that do what you do, etc.) If you sincerely desire your Recruiter to find you the right job, right now, you will not hesitate to provide this valuable information.
Remember, a polished pitch to a Recruiter is just as important as a polished pitch to employers. Be as specific as possible when describing the type of job you want, but leave your Recruiter some wiggle room. Be very specific and absolutely sure about your least acceptable requirements (such as benefits, salary requirements, location, size of employer, etc.) Making demands or ultimatums, being uncooperative, or requiring out-of-line expectations will turn a Recruiter off, no matter how steller your credentials.
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How do I start the process of being a job candidate?
Click here: Apply on Line / Submit Resume However, as a reminder, please understand that Recruiters almost exclusively represent employer assignment needs and requirements. Since the employer pays our fee, they are our boss.
Still, good Recruiters recognize that experienced credentialed candidates are our bread and butter, especially since we only get paid when we fill an employers opening with a qualified candidate.
You may be invited into our office, on an appointment basis, because, based on a preliminary discussion or review of your background or resume, you appear to have the qualifications that are currently being requested. However, do not be alarmed if you do not hear from us for several days, or several months. Your work history and job requirements will be added to our sophisticated computerized database. This state-of-the-art software quickly identifies consistencies in backgrounds and requirements, and will certainly match you to current and future employer assignments, where a match exists.
Please do not expect our Recruiters to stay in daily touch with you. It is not necessary. And once again, please do not leave our offices with the expectation that we are going to find you a job. Instead, please be informed that your file will only be purged, and you contacted, when and if a suitable match is made between your background and an employer’s exact requirements. We will not present you otherwise. And, in reality, this may never happen.
Finally, before you submit your resume, please insure that all discriminatory information, including pictures of yourself, are eliminated from your resume. dmDickason candidates are represented without regard to race, gender, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, physical or mental handicap or disability, veteran status, marital status or any other basis protected by federal, state or local statute.
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